Yarn Overload

So, my post this week is a little late. Last weekend was the Rose City Yarn Crawl. 19 local yarn shops in 4 days...

My adventure started Thursday afternoon. I was downtown, and able to visit Angelika's Yarn shop for the first time. From there I took the streetcar down to Dublin Bay Knitting Company. They had yummy homemade cookies, and a trunk show by Sweet Georgia (and one skein of sock yarn wanted to come home with me ;) From there I walked down to Urban Fiber Arts. This time I was tempted by a skein of Alexandra's Crafts sock yarn. Also found out I had filled up my Supportland punch card, so I scored a $25 gift card for next time (apparently I shop there more than I thought ;) Then I got back on the streetcar for a quick stop at Knit Purl and then caught the MAX to For Yarn's Sake. They had a trunk show with Abstract Fibers, and I picked up a skein in the special Hopworks colorway (are you noticing a pattern here?)

Friday I was at work until 5, and the train was running late so I didn't make it to any shops. But made up for it Saturday! My other half was kind enough to do the driving, and we started at Kathy's Knit Corner. Fun to see the trunk show by 3 Fates, but I managed to resist buying anything (I had gotten several skeins of her yarn at Crafty Wonderland, and haven't used them all yet). Then a stop at Knitting Bee to admire the Scrumptious Luxury Yarns, another stop at All About Yarn, then Northwest Wools and Wool N Wares. Next was Wynona Studios where I picked up a skein of their hand-dyed yarn. Next were stops at Make One and Yarn Garden. Then on to Happy Knits where I picked up a couple of mini skeins to use for their Bertie Lou blue bird pattern. We ended with stops at Twisted, Gossamer and Close Knit. Tried to stop at the Naked Sheep, but couldn't quite make it before closing. Definitely a marathon day and yarn overload!

Sunday morning we made a stop at the Naked Sheep, where I tried out the Bar-Maids scrub and lotion (and picked up a mini lotion bar in Little Pumpkin). Then ended the crawl at Yarnia, where I bought a pre-made cone that made me think of Easter. Also found out I earned a Supportland reward for $10 off my next purchase there (apparently I buy too much yarn).

After successfully making it to all 19 shops, I headed to work for a half-day (have to pay for all those purchases somehow!)

I didn't win any of the fabulous shop baskets, but did get a message that I won the Bar-Maids drawing at Naked Sheep for a free class! Looking forward to checking out their spring class schedule and learning some new skills. And looking forward to knitting with my new yarn, and the patterns I collected at the shops.

Have you participated in a yarn crawl? What was your experience?

Yarn and Tea

Today was supposed to be the Seattle to Portland yarn train. Unfortunately for the Seattle knitters, it was cancelled due to the bad weather earlier in the week and Amtrak delays/cancellations. But, the participating stores went ahead with their specials for anyone who could make it to town.

Since the only train I had to take was the MAX, and I can't resist a sale, I headed to the Pearl for some yarn shopping :) First stop was Knit Purl to check out the Shibui Mix patterns - planning to make Mix 3 (a shawl made from a silk/mohair yarn and silk/merino yarn). Also got some Shibui worsted on sale, but sad to find out this yarn is being discontinued.

Next I wondered over to Urban Fiber Arts to check out the trunk shows going on. Lots of lovely colors, but I finally chose a lovely skein of Abstract Fiber Mighty Sock (along with a shawl pattern) and a super soft skein of Caress Royal Alpaca to make a pair of arm warmers.

Then stopped at the Tea Zone for a Red Velvet Bubble Tea - seasonal flavor (I'm assuming for Valentine's Day), so I had to try it. Surprisingly tasty!

Enjoyed my tea while walking to Dublin Bay. After much contemplation, finally settled on a skein of solstice luna merino and a skein of sweet georgia sock yarn I had been admiring for awhile (the color is snapdragon, which is also my favorite flower). Thinking arm warmers or a cowl for the merino (I think it's a dk weight) and not sure if I want to make socks or a shawl out of the snapdragon...

From there I took the streetcar up to NW 23rd for some iced tea from Tea Chai Te and a "wildflower" sandwich from PBJ's. Also stopped by Let it Bead - got some ideas for beading projects, but wasn't ready to buy anything. Need to look through the bead stash again...

Enjoyed the retail therapy after a long week at work! And love living in such a crafty town :) Time to start working on all of these projects now!

Do you have any favorite yarns or teas?

Local yarn stores

Since I went to work last Thursday I didn't feel like braving opening day at the Sock Summit marketplace. Instead I wandered down to Powell's and picked up a copy of Franklin Habit's book. Then enjoyed a Rose Garden bubble tea at the Tea Zone before catching the bus to Yarnia. The shop was open extended hours for Sock Summit, and they also had snacks. It was fun to hang out and chat in the warm weather. I also picked up a rayon/cotton blend from the bargain basket, and thanks to the Supportland card, I have a $10 credit next time I go to Yarnia! Lots of yarn and other crafty stores participate in Supportland, so definitely worth picking up a card if you're local!

Then on Friday I started off the morning with the Curvy-Grrl Knee Socks & Legwarmers lecture at Sock Summit. It was nice to have someone else figure out a basic formula for making legwarmers fit! After the lecture I went to work (again, had to make some money for the rest of the weekend!) After work I headed down to Urban Fiber Arts, since I knew she had a few trunk shows going on in the shop instead of having a booth at Sock Summit. I picked up one of the special Sock Summit pins and a skein of Stitchjones yarn in XV (her special Sock Summit colorway). Then headed home since I knew I was going to have a long day volunteering on Saturday...

More on sock summit later. Also need to take pictures of the new additions to the stash ;)